ERIC Number: EJ1142171
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2014
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0279-6015
EISSN: EISSN-2372-966X
Nice Thinking! an Educational Intervention That Teaches Children to Think Gratefully
Jeffrey J. Froh; Giacomo Bono; Jinyan Fan; Robert A. Emmons; Katherine Henderson; Cheray Harris; Heather Leggio; Alex M. Wood
School Psychology Review, v43 n2 p132-152 2014
Gratitude is essential to social life and well-being. Although research with youth populations has gained momentum recently, only two gratitude interventions have been conducted in youth, targeting mostly adolescents. In the current research, we tested a new intervention for promoting gratitude among the youngest children targeted to date. Elementary school classrooms (of 8- to 11-year-olds) were randomly assigned either to an intervention that educated children about the appraisal of benefit exchanges or to a control condition. We found that children's awareness of the social-cognitive appraisals of beneficial social exchanges (i.e., grateful thinking) can be strengthened and that this, in turn, makes children more grateful and benefits their well-being in terms of increased general positive affect. A daily intervention produced evidence that this new approach induced gratitude immediately (2 days later) and led children to express gratitude more behaviorally (i.e., they wrote 80% more thank-you cards to their Parent--Teacher Association). A weekly intervention induced gratitude up to 5 months later and additionally showed an effect on well-being (i.e., positive affect). Evidence thus supported the effectiveness of this intervention. Results are discussed in terms of implications for positive youth development and academic functioning.
Descriptors: Teaching Methods, Psychological Patterns, Elementary School Students, Randomized Controlled Trials, Social Cognition, Well Being, Intervention, Delay of Gratification, Child Behavior, Program Effectiveness, Pretests Posttests, Hypothesis Testing, Quasiexperimental Design, Grade 4, Attention Control, Vignettes, Check Lists, Attitude Measures, Student Attitudes, Student Behavior, Student Records, Curriculum, Life Satisfaction, Statistical Analysis, Affective Behavior
National Association of School Psychologists. 4340 East West Highway Suite 402, Bethesda, MD 20814. Tel: 301-657-0270; Fax: 301-657-0275; e-mail: publications@naspweb.org; Web site: http://naspjournals.org/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 4; Intermediate Grades
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: New York
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A